Sudirman Cup

Sudirman Cup

Current season, competition or edition: 2021 Sudirman Cup
Sport	Badminton
Founded	1989
No. of teams	16 (finals)
Countries	BWF member nations
Most recent champion(s)	China (12th title)
Most titles	China (12 titles)

The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1989. It used to be held at the same venue for the World Championships in the same year until the International Badminton Federation (now the BWF) decided to split the two tournaments starting from 2003.^[1] There are five matches in every Sudirman Cup tie which consists of men and women's singles, men and women's doubles and mixed doubles. The cup is named after Dick Sudirman, a former Indonesian badminton player and the founder of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI). The current champion is China, which won its 12th title at the 2021 tournament in Finland.

There is no prize money in Sudirman Cup; players play for their respective countries and to earn BWF World Ranking points and national prestige.

Trophy[]

Sudirman Cup

The Sudirman Cup stands 80 cm high. It is made of 22 carat (92%) gold-plated solid silver and stands on an octagonal base made of jati wood (Java teak wood). The body of the Cup is in the form of a shuttlecock and is surmounted by a replica of the Borobudur Temple. The handles are in the shape of stamens, symbolising the seeds of badminton.

The Cup was made by Masterix Bandung Company at the price of US$15,000.

Format[]

The Sudirman Cup is an international competition that does not stage a qualification round. The competing teams are divided into 7 groups based on their performances. Only teams in Group 1 will have a chance to lift the trophy as the teams in other groups fight for promotion. Only six teams compete in Group 1 until 2003 before it is increased to 8 in 2005 and later to 12 teams in 2011.^[2]

Originally, the teams who finish last in the group were relegated to the lower group for the next edition, except the final group. The promotion-relegation system was last used in 2009, and teams competing are now grouped by world rankings.^[3]

Result[]

Year	Host		Final				Semi-finalists
			Champions	Score	Runners-up
1989 Details	Jakarta, Indonesia		Indonesia	3–2	South Korea		China	Denmark
1991 Details	Copenhagen, Denmark		South Korea	3–2	Indonesia		China	Denmark
1993 Details	Birmingham, England		South Korea	3–2	Indonesia		China	Denmark
1995 Details	Lausanne, Switzerland		China	3–1	Indonesia		Denmark	South Korea
1997 Details	Glasgow, Scotland		China	5–0	South Korea		Denmark	Indonesia
1999 Details	Copenhagen, Denmark		China	3–1	Denmark		Indonesia	South Korea
2001 Details	Seville, Spain		China	3–1	Indonesia		Denmark	South Korea
2003 Details	Eindhoven, Netherlands		South Korea	3–1	China		Denmark	Indonesia
2005 Details	Beijing, China		China	3–0	Indonesia		Denmark	South Korea
2007 Details	Glasgow, Scotland		China	3–0	Indonesia		England	South Korea
2009 Details	Guangzhou, China		China	3–0	South Korea		Indonesia	Malaysia
2011 Details	Qingdao, China		China	3–0	Denmark		Indonesia	South Korea
2013 Details	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		China	3–0	South Korea		Denmark	Thailand
2015 Details	Dongguan, China		China	3–0	Japan		Indonesia	South Korea
2017 Details	Gold Coast, Australia		South Korea	3–2	China		Japan	Thailand
2019 Details	Nanning, China		China	3–0	Japan		Indonesia	Thailand
2021 Details	Vantaa, Finland		China	3–1	Japan		South Korea	Malaysia
2023	Suzhou, China
2025	China

Successful national teams[]

Indonesia initially won the tournament in 1989. Throughout the history of the tournament, eight countries have reached through to the semifinal round in all tournaments of Sudirman Cup: China, Denmark, England, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan.

China is the most successful national team in the Sudirman Cup (12 victories), followed by Korea (4 victories) and Indonesia (1 victory). The tournament has never been won by a non-Asian country, Denmark is the only European country that came close to winning it, in 1999 and 2011.

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Semi-finalists
China	12 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021)	2 (2003, 2017)	3 (1989, 1991, 1993)
South Korea	4 (1991, 1993, 2003, 2017)	4 (1989, 1997, 2009, 2013)	8 (1995, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2021)
Indonesia	1 (1989)	6 (1991, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2007)	7 (1997, 1999, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Japan		3 (2015, 2019, 2021)	1 (2017)
Denmark		2 (1999, 2011)	9 (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2013)
Thailand			3 (2013, 2017, 2019)
Malaysia			2 (2009, 2021)
England			1 (2007)

References[]

External links[]

• Official website